ON ONE POINT, supporters and opponents of legalized abortion can agree: Any late-term abortion procedure is difficult, both physically and morally.
In Maryland, as in many other states, abortions are already illegal past the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb -- a point reached late in the second trimester of pregnancy. The power to make such decisions was reserved to the states in Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the early stages of pregnancy.
But Marylanders have made their wishes known about abortion before viability: It should remain legal and accessible. The latest effort in the General Assembly presumes to aim at "partial-birth" abortion procedures, but its real target is legal abortion.
"Partial-birth" is not a medical term. It describes an abortion technique used in the later stages of pregnancy. It has been a boon to the anti-abortion movement because it can be depicted in line drawings that are graphic enough to repulse the public, yet not quite graphic enough to be deemed unprintable.
Thus, in statehouses around the country as well as in Congress, opponents of legal abortion have used the issue to open a new front in the long-running abortion wars. This time, they have managed to attract many people who otherwise support legal abortion.
Let us be clear: The Supreme Court has given states the power to regulate late-term abortions. Maryland has done so by outlawing abortions after the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb. There are exceptions to protect the life and health of the mother or for cases of genetic defect or serious abnormality -- provisions with which most Marylanders agree.
Although voters overwhelmingly approved these provisions in a 1992 referendum, that law does not have the force of a constitutional amendment. Subsequent legislation could undo the language. Many people fear the "partial-birth" proposal being heard by a state Senate committee today is one way to do so. An opinion from the state attorney general's office bolsters that view, given the imprecision of the term and uncertainty as to which procedures could be defined as "partial-birth" abortions.
Marylanders have argued enough about this divisive issue. Those who truly want to prevent abortions ought to seek ways to zTC help women avoid pregnancies they cannot carry to term, instead of tying up the legislative process in attempts to undo the strongly expressed will of the people of this state.
Pub Date: 2/18/98
